About Dion McKenzie

Photography courtesy of Justin Fulton.

Born and raised in Jamaica, Dion McKenzie aka TYGAPAW is a Brooklyn-based multi-disciplinary artist, DJ and producer. Dion has been working primarily as a producer and dj for several years but has been working as the Art Director behind brooklyn based collective Fake Accent, which is a platform and collective of queer visual artists, DJ's, and music producers creating intentional and immersive spaces in and outside of the club. Fake Accent is rooted in the shared notion of displacement: emotional, physical, sensational, and political. We translate this displacement by interrupting shared spaces with manifestations of sound and image; a reincarnation of the club experience and an exploration of the dualities and complexities of digital humanism. She is also the founder of the collective.

As for her work as TYGAPAW, she infuses her Jamaican ancestry into deeply lush beats and mixes that are diverse and experimental sonic representations of her life, experiences and struggles. This year TYGAPAW saw the release of her debut EP, Love Thyself, with tracks that move from baile funk and swelling synth work to New York vogue and Baltimore club. Dion has been the visual creative force behind all the projects she has built from the ground up.